Trajectory planning systems and methods

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for a trajectory planning of robots, such as collaborative robots (cobots). A controller of a robot may include a path planner, a trajectory generator, and a trajectory controller. The path planner may determine a plurality of waypoints defining a path between an initial pose of the robot and a goal pose of the robot. The trajectory generator may determine a trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose based on the waypoints and one or more trajectory criterion. The trajectory controller may generate a control signal to control the robot based on the determined trajectory.

1 . A controller for a robot, comprising:
 a path planner configured to determine a plurality of waypoints defining a path between an initial pose of the robot and a goal pose of the robot;   a trajectory generator configured to determine a trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose based on the waypoints and one or more trajectory criterion; and   a trajectory controller configured to generate a control signal to control the robot based on the trajectory.   
     
     
         2 . The controller of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more trajectory criterion comprises an energy cost criterion, wherein the trajectory generator is configured to determine the trajectory to minimize the energy cost criterion. 
     
     
         3 . The controller of  claim 1 , wherein the waypoints are determined based on one or more demonstrated end-effector trajectories of an end-effector of a manipulator arm of the robot. 
     
     
         4 . The controller of  claim 1 , wherein the trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose is determined per joint of a manipulator arm of the robot. 
     
     
         5 . The controller of  claim 1 , wherein the path planner is configured to determine the waypoints based on a current state of the robot, a goal of the robot, and/or one or more detected obstacles. 
     
     
         6 . The controller of  claim 1 , wherein the path planner is configured to determine a motion primitive between each pair of consecutive waypoints of the plurality of waypoints based on the one or more trajectory criterion. 
     
     
         7 . The controller of  claim 6 , wherein the motion primitive is a polynomial that connects each pair of the consecutive waypoints. 
     
     
         8 . The controller of  claim 1 , wherein the trajectory generator is configured to determine a basis function that minimizes the one or more trajectory criterion to determine the trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose. 
     
     
         9 . The controller of  claim 8 , wherein the trajectory generator is further configured to determine a minimum trajectory time based on the initial pose of the robot, the goal pose of the robot, and one or more trajectory criterion, wherein the trajectory is determined based on the basis function and the minimum trajectory time. 
     
     
         10 . A collaborative robot, comprising:
 a manipulator arm configured to move from an initial pose to a goal pose; and   a controller configured to:
 determine a plurality of waypoints defining a path between the initial pose and the goal pose; 
 determine a trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose based on the waypoints and one or more trajectory criterion; and 
 generate a control signal to control the manipulator arm based on the trajectory. 
   
     
     
         11 . The collaborative robot of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more trajectory criterion comprises an energy cost criterion, wherein the controller is configured to determine the trajectory to minimize the energy cost criterion. 
     
     
         12 . The collaborative robot of  claim 10 , wherein the waypoints are determined based on one or more demonstrated end-effector trajectories of an end-effector of the manipulator arm. 
     
     
         13 . The collaborative robot of  claim 10 , wherein the trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose is determined per joint of the manipulator arm. 
     
     
         14 . The collaborative robot of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the waypoints based on a current state of the collaborative robot, a goal of the collaborative robot, and/or one or more detected obstacles. 
     
     
         15 . The collaborative robot of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a motion primitive between each pair of consecutive waypoints of the plurality of waypoints based on the one or more trajectory criterion. 
     
     
         16 . The collaborative robot of  claim 15 , wherein the motion primitive is a polynomial that connects each pair of the consecutive waypoints. 
     
     
         17 . The collaborative robot of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a basis function that minimizes the one or more trajectory criterion to determine the trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose. 
     
     
         18 . The collaborative robot of  claim 17 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine a minimum trajectory time based on the initial pose, the goal pose, and one or more trajectory criterion, wherein the trajectory is determined based on the basis function and the minimum trajectory time. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with an executable program stored thereon, that when executed, instructs a processor to perform a motion planning method, for an autonomous agent, comprising:
 determining a plurality of waypoints defining a path between an initial pose of a manipulator arm of the autonomous agent and a goal pose of the manipulator arm;   determining a trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose based on the waypoints and one or more trajectory criterion; and   generating a control signal to control the manipulator arm based on the trajectory.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the one or more trajectory criterion comprises an energy cost criterion, wherein determining the trajectory minimizes the energy cost criterion. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the waypoints are determined based on one or more demonstrated end-effector trajectories of an end-effector of the manipulator arm. 
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose is determined per joint of the manipulator arm. 
     
     
         23 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , further comprising determining a motion primitive between each pair of consecutive waypoints of the plurality of waypoints based on the one or more trajectory criterion. 
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the motion primitive is a polynomial that connects each pair of the consecutive waypoints. 
     
     
         25 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 determining a basis function that minimizes the one or more trajectory criterion to determine the trajectory between the initial pose and the goal pose; and   determining a minimum trajectory time based on the initial pose, the goal pose, and one or more trajectory criterion, wherein the trajectory is determined based on the basis function and the minimum trajectory time.